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I asked a couple of friends to join me on this 30 mile out and back ride starting in Providence R.I. along the East Bay and into Colt State Park. I wanted to give my touring bike a good shakedown to make sure everything is good before my upcoming short tour of Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. No takers, and I have to say they missed a humdinger of a ride. Everything was near perfect, sunny, mild, no wind and plenty of people willing to chat.

The MUP got pretty busy when the local school let out. Lots of kids ride their bikes to when there is a safe bike way nearby.

All you need to do to take part in Opening Day is just get out on your local trail. How easy is that?!

Be sure to use the hashtag #RTCOpeningDay, and share your photos and posts of your trail outing. And of course, get your friends on board! (We think a day on the trail with friends is just that much more fun.) Send them to railstotrails.org/openingday.

I will be riding from Ft Hill (Corner of Lyon St and Veterans Memorial Parkway) in East Providence to Warren R I. with a 9 AM start. There we will stop at the Coffee Depot for a snack or light breakfast before returning back to Fort Hill. The Cafe Tour people will be riding to Bristol Bagel in that town if you want to do the end to end ride of the East Bay Bike Path.

It turned out to be a nice morning and there was a club bike ride scheduled to begin at 10 AM. That was too late for me and since this 25 mile East Bay Bike Path route in Rhode Island was a ride I had done dozens of times, I decide on an earlier start. (And finish). Continue reading “A Very Serene Bike Ride”

Trees and poles to lock up you bike. But with outside seating in an upscale college area, it’s really not necessary.

I took the Randonee bike for this last coffeeneuring adventure. I have a Novara Randonnee bike but have never done a randonee. But I have been to Spain. Today’s ride was the route connecting the East Bay Bike Path in East Providence to the Blackstone River Bikeway in Cumberland, R.I. This is the ride I saved for the last coffeeneurs challenge and after a couple of false starts, everything fell into place today.

This route begins in East Providence at the Fort Hill parking area of the East Bay Bike Path. The normal ride is South toward Bristol R.I. which is close to Newport. Today though, the ride takes us North to Providence. One of the highlights is crossing the Washington Bridge over the Seakonk River.

Washing Bridge bike path in Providence, RI

It continues through some really nice areas along the Seakonk River and into some very upscale neighborhoods including Blackstone Boulevard where years ago I rode the Tuesday night boulevard double paceline ride. It was a 30 mile open to everyone hammerfest with the Providence College and Brown University bike teams. There were times when the paceline was 15-18 bikes long with 30+ riders. In essence, one would pull the pack for a couple of minutes twice a night. Being the oldest in the pack, whenever I got to the front, the ride would slow considerably. On many rides kids would tuck me into the middle of the paceline and let me be pulled along at 25-28 mph with very little effort on my part. Riding the tide, we called it. Or as they say, keep him away from the front.

The ride today also went through a couple of urban areas that get pretty busy with traffic. Because I was fully depending on my Garmin Touring GPS for directions, (I uploaded the route), I got caught a few times on the right when I needed to go left. Every time I looked over my shoulder to see the traffic behind me, I got a go ahead and take the lane from the driver. Providence is a very progressive city of college students and professors on bikes, making it very bike friendly. I’m still learning this new Garmin of mine, and a couple of fopahs cut the distance of this ride from 26 to 14 miles. I want to do this ride again, but as they say, there are lots of other territories to conquer.

Riding along the Seakonk River in Providence, RIEntering Pawtucket, RI

I saved the coffeeneuring challenge for the return leg. I didn’t know of any coffee shops in Providence, and this being the Brown University area, it was obvious to even the most casual observer, that there would be some really good ones. L’Artisen Cafe is the reason my title says the best coffee ride. This place was, as the kids say, “off the hook”. The coffee was wonderful and the turkey cranberry panini was sooo good. The sun was shining, the temperature was nearing 65 F and there was outside seating.

The day began cool enough to dress like a bike riding chef from upstate NY. Well not that cold but you get the point.

chilly start to the ride.

It was 47 F when the ride began in East Providence R.I. this morning. The sun was shining and the wind was just a whisper. On the subject of the shining sun. It was 9 AM and I was riding east. All I could see was the sun and not the four people I almost rode into.

The East Bay Bike Path is a rail to trail conversion. It’s 16 miles from East Providence to Barrington, R.I.. When riding most rail to trail conversions, there is very little to see. Most were freight rails and towns are often quite a way off the trail. Much of the riding is on lonely dirt paths with miles and miles of nothing much. The East Bay rail road was a passenger rail that carried people to and from Providence for school, work, or connecting trains to New York or Boston and had stations in all five towns along the route. Main St. in all these places are no more than a block away.

Willie Wier , author and Adventure Cyclist has traveled all over the world on his bicycle. He set out to ride the KATY trail in Missouri a few years back. Hours and hours of riding on this trail and seeing no one really bothered him. One of the best things about bike touring is seeing things and meeting people. With that in mind, he got off the trail and did the rest of his week long bike ride on the streets and roads. Today I got off the trail on Warren R.I. in search of a decent coffee shop. While riding down Main St. I spotted a coffee shop with lots of activity. Even on this chilly day, the sidewalk tables were occupied. One thing I learned traveling is that good restaurants have full parking lots, and in this case, few available tables. I was pleasantly amazed when I entered the joint. It was very eclectic and looked very much like one of those men’s clubs you see on old movies. The Coffee Depot offered comfortable chairs, a library, and a counter from end to end filled with coffee shop goodies.

The Coffee Depot goodies section

Cappuccino and ricotta honey danish.

The temperature rose to the high fifties and I was treated to the full colors of fall in New England during my 20 mile ride.

CLICK HERE to see the Flickr album of this ride.
The Fall River gang called for a bike ride on the East Bay Bike Path. The route took us through Colt State Park and our guide Brian gave us a tour of the newly upgraded and connecting MUP through the expansive park grounds. The MUP is a 17 mile path from East Providence to Bristol, RI but on this day we cut the ride in half and made it a sightseeing easy spin while trying to avoid the overweight spandex wearing senior men living their fantasy of riding the Tour de France at 17 MPH.

Bristol Bagel Works was our turn around point. A light breakfast and coffee gave us the energy to complete this 15 mile, 6.7 MPH average speed hammerfest.

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Bike Fall River Announces 2 rides for the weekend.

Saturday – Ride Around the Taunton River

Saturday, July 11, 2015 – Meet at 7:45am at the Park N Ride in Somerset off of County Street near the Rockland Trust Bank.
Ride will start at 8:00am This ride is for experienced road cyclists. The distance is approximately 23 to 25 miles and riders will encounter several hilly roads. Know your limitations.
The group will ride north along the scenic Somerset shoreline onto Dighton and then cross over the Taunton River into Berkley. From Berkley the group will head south into Freetown, Fall River and then over the Veterans Memorial Bridge back into Somerset.
Helmets are highly recommended, make sure to bring water and a snack.

Sunday, July 12, 2015 – Meet at 7:45am at the parking lot along the East Bay Bike Path in Warren. Take 103 from Somerset to Warren, take first left after Dels Lemonade stand and park along the left. Ride starts at 8:00am. The East Bay Bike path and the paths in Colt State Park are level with very small inclines. This ride will be at a leisurely pace and will take in the beautiful scenery at Colt State Park. The ride is approximately 10 to 12 miles. When the ride is over riders can opt for a longer ride by heading north on the East Bay Bike path. Helmets are highly recommended and make sure to bring water and a snack.